pakatan HarApan: 10/11/13

Friday, 11 October 2013

EU- Amerika Syarikat rundingan perdagangan bebas - Utalk

SitiWanMahani - “Apa sebenarnya yang perjanjian perdagangan bebas EU- Amerika Syarikat sedang dirundingkan melibatkan dan apa maknanya untuk pengguna Eropah ?" - Andy, melalui Facebook.

Monique Goyens, Ketua Pengarah Pertubuhan Pengguna Eropah, BEUC: “Perjanjian perdagangan bebas yang sedang dirundingkan antara Amerika Syarikat dan Eropah bertujuan memudahkan pertukaran perdagangan antara kedua-dua benua.

“Bagi pengguna Eropah, ini bermakna dalam prinsip bahawa kita harus mampu untuk mempunyai lebih banyak pilihan di antara barang-barang yang diimport dari Amerika Syarikat dan Eropah barang-barang. Ini juga harus bermakna pada dasarnya bahawa harga akan turun.”

“Tetapi ia bukan semua yang positif bagi pengguna Eropah. Apa yang kita bimbang adalah bahawa ini dilakukan di bawah syarat-syarat yang memudaratkan kesihatan kita dan keselamatan kita kerana terdapat risiko bahawa rundingan akan berakhir yang mengurangkan (yang sedia ada) peraturan Eropah mengenai keselamatan makanan, keselamatan produk, bahan kimia dan perlindungan data.”

“Semua ini kaedah-kaedah perlindungan Eropah yang kita begitu bangga dan yang juga memberi kita keyakinan dalam pasaran kita, boleh terjejas kerana peraturan Amerika tidak sama seperti kami, mereka sering kurang ketat bagi pengeluar, dan ini mungkin harga untuk membayar lebih banyak persaingan Jadi kami, -. sebagai sebuah organisasi pengguna, yang kita akan sangat berhati-hati untuk mengelakkan pembukaan pasaran Eropah menyebabkan kesihatan yang kurang dan perlindungan keselamatan untuk pengguna kami.”

EU-US free trade talks - Utalk

"What exactly does the EU-US free trade agreement currently being negotiated involve and what does it mean for European consumers?" - Andy, via Facebook.

Monique Goyens, Director General of the European Consumers' Organisation, BEUC: "The free trade agreement which is currently being negotiated between the US and Europe aims at easing commercial exchanges between those two continents.

"For European consumers, this means in principle that we should be able to have more choice between imported goods from the US and European goods. This also should mean in principle that prices will go down."

"But it's not all positive for European consumers. What we fear is that this is done under conditions that are detrimental to our health and our safety because there is a risk that the negotiations will end up reducing (existing) European rules on food safety, product safety, chemicals and data protection."

"All these European protection rules which we're so proud of and that also give us confidence in our market may be undermined because American rules are not the same as ours, they are often less restrictive for manufacturers, and this may be the price to pay for more competition. So we, - as a consumers' organisation, we will be very vigilant in order to prevent the opening up of the European market resulting in less health and safety protection for our consumers."

Tiada kompromi: OBAMA enggan menaikkan hutang siling selama 6 minggu

Presiden Amerika Syarikat, Barack Obama (U.S. President Barack Obama (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque – think IN pictures @1WORLDCommunity)

SitiWanMahani - Presiden Obama telah menolak meningkatkan hutang siling Amerika selama 6 minggu selepas 17 Oktober tarikh akhir. Kompromi yang telah dikemukakan oleh kongres Republikan, yang berusaha untuk memenangi masa untuk rundingan dan mengelakkan lalai Amerika Syarikat yang pernah berlaku sebelum minggu depan.

tonton terkini LIVE untuk penutupan Kerajaan Amerika Syarikat. hit (HERE)

Tiada keputusan bajet khusus yang telah diambil di White House pada hari Khamis, di mana Presiden Obama bertemu dengan 20 House Republikan, termasuk Speaker John Boehner, selama 90 minit ceramah. Bagaimanapun, jurucakap White House berkata Presiden Obama “berharap untuk kemajuan yang berterusan dengan ahli-ahli kedua-dua pihak.”

Walaupun Republikan tidak mencapai apa yang mereka mahu, wakil-wakil pihak menyifatkan mesyuarat itu sebagai “yang berguna dan produktif”.

Semasa rundingan Washington Obama tekankan Republikan untuk membuka semula kerajaan dan meningkatkan kemungkinan bahawa pembiayaan akan dikembalikan pada awal minggu depan jika syarat-syarat untuk rundingan bajet luas boleh dicapai, New York Times melaporkan .

Republikan Speaker John Boehner mencadangkan (proposed) melanjutkan hutang siling (debt ceiling) selama 6 minggu meminta Presiden Obama sebagai balasan kepada janji untuk berunding atas pelan penjagaan kesihatan beliau dikenali sebagai ObamaCare.

Barak Obama menegaskan beliau tidak akan ketara mengurangkan MediCare dan perbelanjaan MediCaid, jika Republikan tidak bersetuju untuk meningkatkan hasil daripada pengurangan pengecualian cukai bagi syarikat-syarikat dan individu-individu kaya. Encik Boehner pula telah mengesahkan parti itu terhadap cukai yang ketat, yang menunjukkan bahawa perbincangan masa depan pengasas boleh.

Terdahulu pentadbiran kata Presiden itu bersedia untuk mempertimbangkan tawaran Republikan, tetapi tidak akan membolehkan GOP untuk memegang ekonomi Amerika Syarikat “tebusan”.

“Berita baik adalah bahawa Republikan telah menerima prinsip bahawa mereka tidak akan ke syarat-syarat kepada hutang siling,” kata Wakil Chris Van Hollen Maryland, Demokrat kanan pada Jawatankuasa Belanjawan House.

Program penjagaan kesihatan Presiden Amerika Syarikat adalah batu penghalang utama dalam rundingan bajet Washington, yang telah mendorong Kerajaan ke penutupan (shutdown) pertama dalam 17 tahun. Dalam kes pihak berkuasa Amerika Syarikat terus bermain ping pong politik dan gagal untuk bersetuju dengan bajet serta hutang siling sebelum negara kehabisan wang tunai pada 17 Oktober, ekonomi terbesar di DUNIA boleh lalai - kali pertama dalam 225 tahun.

No compromise: Obama refuses to raise debt ceiling for 6 weeks

President Obama has rejected raising America's debt ceiling for 6 weeks beyond the October 17 deadline. The compromise was put forward by congressional Republicans, who sought to win time for negotiation and avert an unprecedented US default next week.

WATCH LIVE UPDATES FOR US GOVT SHUTDOWN HERE

No specific budget decision was taken in the White House on Thursday, where President Obama met with 20 House Republicans, including Speaker John Boehner, for 90 minutes of talks. However, a White House spokesman said President Obama "looks forward to continued progress with members on both sides".

Even though Republicans haven’t achieved what they wanted, the party representatives described the meeting as "useful and productive".

During the Washington talks Mr. Obama pressed Republicans to reopen the government and increase the possibility that its financing would be restored by early next week if terms for broad budget negotiations could be reached, the New York Times reports.

Republican Speaker John Boehner proposed extending the debt ceiling for another 6 weeks asking President Obama in return to promise to negotiate over his healthcare plan known as Obamacare.

Barak Obama insisted he won’t significantly cut Medicare and Medicaid spending, if Republicans don’t agree to raise revenues from reduced tax breaks for corporations and wealthy individuals. Mr. Boehner in turn has been reaffirming his party was against tightening taxation, which suggests that future talks could founder.

Earlier the administration said the President was ready to consider the Republicans’ offer, but wouldn’t allow the GOP to hold the US economy “hostage”.

“The good news is that Republicans have accepted the principle that they’re not going to attach conditions to the debt ceiling,” said Representative Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, the senior Democrat on the House Budget Committee.

The US President’s health care programme is a key stumbling block in Washington budget negotiations, which has driven the Government into the first shutdown in 17 years. In case US authorities keep on playing political ping pong and fail to agree on its budget as well as a debt ceiling before the country runs out of cash on October 17, the world’s biggest economy could default – the first time in 225 years.

OBAMA menempelak untuk Retak ke atas kebebasan Media . . .

Presiden Amerika Syarikat, Barack Obama (US President Barack Obama (AFP Photo/Jewel Samad – think IN pictures @1WORLDCommunity)

SitiWanMahani - Surat ke White House, senarai cadangan ‘laundry list’ untuk Presiden dan laporan 29 muka surat mengenai serangan pentadbiran di akhbar percuma semua disusun dalam persembahan terbaru dari Pusat Melindungi Wartawan .

The CPJ, bukan keuntungan yang diasaskan lebih 30 tahun yang lalu untuk menggalakkan “kebebasan akhbar di seluruh DUNIA & mempertahankan hak wartawan untuk melaporkan berita tanpa takut tindakan balas,” yang disiarkan laporan khas pada hari Khamis ditulis oleh lama Washington Post eksekutif editor Leonard Downie Jr . di mana beliau dismantles rawatan Presiden Amerika Syarikat Barack Obama wartawan dengan bantuan pemberita keselamatan utama negara di negara ini.

Walaupun berkempen sepenuhnya kepada janji meningkat ketelusan kerajaan dan pentadbiran yang paling terbuka lagi, Pres. Obama 4-dan- setengah tahun di White House setakat ini termasuk beberapa contoh yang dipetik oleh Downie di mana pemberita disiasat, pemberi maklumat ditegur dan tindakan pentadbiran yang dibenarkan untuk menyejukkan kewartawanan, kedua-dua di dalam dan di peringkat global .

Pres. Obama “datang ke pejabat berikrar kerajaan yang terbuka, tetapi dia telah jatuh singkat janji beliau,” prefaces Downie laporannya.

“Wartawan dan penyokong ketelusan mengatakan White House sekatan pendedahan rutin maklumat dan mengatur media sendiri untuk mengelakkan penelitian oleh akhbar, “katanya terus, sambil menambah,” pendakwaan agresif leakers maklumat rahsia dan program pengawasan yang luas elektronik menghalang sumber-sumber kerajaan daripada bercakap kepada wartawan.”

Obama blasted for cracking down on free press

A letter to the White House, a laundry list of recommendations for the president and a 29-page report about the administration’s assault on free press are all compiled in the latest offering from the Center to Protect Journalists.

The CPJ, a non-profit founded over 30 years ago to promote “press freedom worldwide and defends the right of journalists to report the news without fear of reprisal,” published a special report on Thursday penned by longtime Washington Post executive editor Leonard Downie Jr. in which he dismantles United States President Barack Obama’s treatment of journalists with assistance from the country’s foremost national security reporters.

Despite campaigning heavily on the promise of increased government transparency and the most open administration yet, Pres. Obama’s four-and-a-half-years in the White House so far have included a number of instances cited by Downie in which reporters were investigated, whistleblowers reprimanded and administrative actions allowed for the chilling of journalism, both domestically and on a global level.

Pres. Obama “came into office pledging open government, but he has fallen short of his promise,” Downie prefaces his report.

“Journalists and transparency advocates say the White House curbs routine disclosure of information and deploys its own media to evade scrutiny by the press,” he continues, adding, “Aggressive prosecution of leakers of classified information and broad electronic surveillance programs deter government sources from speaking to journalists.”

Laporan dan artikel yang disertakan dan surat kepada White House menandakan satu peristiwa yang jarang berlaku di mana CPJ satu daripada Amerika Syarikat untuk melanggar kebebasan akhbar, berpaling dari contoh-contoh antarabangsa yang biasanya disiasat oleh organisasi, seperti wartawan dibuang , dipenjarakan atau dibunuh untuk melakukan kerja-kerja mereka, dan sekatan ke atas media terbuka di negara-negara yang lebih menindas luar negara.

Glenn Greenwald, penulis Guardian yang telah bekerja rapat dengan harta dokumen rahsia yang dibekalkan kepada akhbar beliau, telah menulis di Twitter bahawa dia menganggap laporan itu sebagai “dakwaan pedas” serangan akhbar White House.

Lukisan pada contoh-contoh baru-baru ini Wikileaks sumber Chelsea Manning dan Keselamatan Negara Agensi leaker Edward Snowden - serta rakyat Amerika lain yang dikenakan dengan pengintipan untuk mendedahkan inisiatif kerajaan dikatakan mengerikan dengan akhbar - Downie dan rakan-rakannya mempersoalkan usaha White House untuk mengendalikan yang tidak dibenarkan pendedahan maklumat sulit dan kesan penyejukan mereka mempunyai percubaan ke atas wartawan di seluruh DUNIA.

“6 kakitangan kerajaan, serta dua kontraktor termasuk Edward Snowden, subjek telah pendakwaan jenayah feloni sejak tahun 2009 di bawah Akta 1917 Perisikan,” mengimbas kembali Downie, yang mengakui bahawa tally rakyat Amerika didakwa di bawah undang-undang yang melebihi 2 kali ganda jumlah dari pentadbiran sebelumnya digabungkan.

Manning sedang menjalani hukuman penjara 35 tahun untuk bocor sensitif dokumen diplomatik dan ketenteraan kepada Wikileaks semasa berkhidmat dalam Angkatan Tentera Amerika Syarikat, dan sebelum itu telah diadakan di kurungan dalam kici tentera selama hampir setahun. Dan Snowden - kontraktor perisikan bekas yang terdedah alat pengawasan yang luas NSA itu - telah terpaksa menerima perlindungan di Rusia ketika dia pertempuran dakwaan yang boleh membawa hukuman yang lebih dahsyat daripada askar.

Dan manakala kerajaan telah bergantung kepada undang-undang yang ditubuhkan untuk mengesahkan kes tersebut, Downie dan berhati-hati syarikat itu taktik pentadbiran telah mengubah industri kewartawanan secara keseluruhan terima kasih kepada takut kerap di kalangan pemberita bahawa setiap aspek kehidupan mereka adalah di bawah pengawasan.

“Banyak wartawan yang berpangkalan di Washington memberitahu saya bahawa pegawai-pegawai yang enggan membincangkan maklumat walaupun dikelaskan dengan mereka kerana mereka takut bahawa siasatan kebocoran dan pengawasan kerajaan membuat ia lebih sukar bagi pemberita untuk melindungi mereka sebagai sumber,” tulis Downie .

Scott Shane, New York Times wartawan kebangsaan keselamatan yang dihubungi bekas Perisikan Pusat Agensi pegawai John Kiriakou sebelum dia didakwa untuk perisikan, memberitahu Downie bahawa taktik White House berhubung dengan mendiamkan kebocoran adalah “masalah yang sebenar.”

“Kebanyakan orang terhalang oleh kebocoran yang pendakwaan. Mereka takut kepada kematian. Terdapat zon kelabu di antara maklumat sulit dan tidak dikelaskan, dan kebanyakan sumber-sumber yang berada di dalam zon kelabu. Sumber kini takut untuk memasuki zon kelabu,” Shane memberitahunya. “Ia mempunyai kesan penghalang. Jika kita menganggap liputan media agresif aktiviti kerajaan berada di teras demokrasi Amerika, ini tips baki banyak memihak kepada kerajaan.”

Hanya beberapa jam sebelum CPJ menerbitkan penemuan mereka, wartawan memenangi Hadiah Pulitzer Barton Gellman kepada penonton di panel di Washington bahawa” Apabila anda berada sasaran yang sebenar, tidak ada langkah-langkah teknologi yang anda boleh ambil untuk melindungi diri anda sepenuhnya” dari pengawasan, mengikut kepada Kesatuan Kebebasan Sivil Amerika teknologi Chris Soghoian .

The report and its accompanying articles and letter to the White House mark a rare occasion in which the CPJ single-out the US for infringing on press freedoms, turning away from the international examples that are usually investigated by the organization, such as journalists exiled, imprisoned or killed for doing their work, and restrictions on the open-media in more repressive countries overseas.

Glenn Greenwald, the Guardian writer who has worked closely with a trove of top-secret documents supplied to his newspaper, wrote on Twitter that he considered the report to be a “scathing indictment” of the White House’s press attacks.

Drawing on the recent examples of WikiLeaks source Chelsea Manning and National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden - as well as other US citizens charged with espionage for exposing arguably egregious government initiatives with the press - Downie and his colleagues question the White House’s efforts to handle the unauthorized disclosures of classified information and the chilling effect those attempts have had on journalists around the globe.

“Six government employees, plus two contractors including Edward Snowden, have been subjects of felony criminal prosecutions since 2009 under the 1917 Espionage Act,” recalls Downie, who acknowledges that the tally of Americans indicted under that law exceeds double the total from all previous administrations combined.

Manning is currently serving a 35-year prison sentence for leaking sensitive diplomatic and military documents to WikiLeaks while serving in the US Army, and before that was held in solitary confinement in a military brig for almost a year. And Snowden - the former intelligence contractor that exposed the NSA’s vast surveillance apparatus - has resorted to accepting asylum in Russia while he battles an indictment that could carry an even harsher sentence than the soldier.

And while the government has relied on established legislation to legitimize those cases, Downie and company caution that the administration’s tactics have transformed the journalism industry as a whole thanks to frequent fear among reporters that every aspect of their lives is under surveillance.

“Numerous Washington-based journalists told me that officials are reluctant to discuss even unclassified information with them because they fear that leak investigations and government surveillance make it more difficult for reporters to protect them as sources,” wrote Downie.

Scott Shane, the New York Times national security reporter who contacted former Central Intelligence Agency officer John Kiriakou before he was indicted for espionage, told Downie that the White House’s tactics with regards to silencing leaks is “a real problem.”

“Most people are deterred by those leaks prosecutions. They’re scared to death. There’s a gray zone between classified and unclassified information, and most sources were in that gray zone. Sources are now afraid to enter that gray zone,” Shane told him. “It’s having a deterrent effect. If we consider aggressive press coverage of government activities being at the core of American democracy, this tips the balance heavily in favor of the government.” Only hours before the CPJ published their findings, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Barton Gellman told an audience at a panel in Washington that “Once you are an actual target, there are no technological steps you can take to fully protect yourself” from surveillance, according to American Civil Liberties Union technologist Chris Soghoian.

Krisis Ekonomi EU menyebabkan Peningkatan yang BESAR dalam KEMISKINAN - Palang Merah

Pendatang Asing memberikan makanan disumbangkan oleh aktivis dari dapur sup tempatan untuk lelaki, di kawasan kejiranan miskin di Athens (A migrant gives food donated by activists from a local soup kitchen to a boy, in a poor neighborhood in Athens (AFP Photo/Louisa Gouliamaki – think IN pictures @1WORLDCommunity)

SitiWanMahani - Eropah sedang menghadapi kemerosotan ekonomi dan bencana sosial, menurut satu laporan baru Palang Merah. Amal menyimpulkan bahawa langkah-langkah penjimatan yang diambil semasa kegawatan ekonomi Eropah telah turut menyumbang kepada pendorong kemiskinan dan pengangguran.

“Walaupun benua lain berjaya mengurangkan kemiskinan, Eropah menambah,” kata laporan itu, bertajuk “Fikirkan berbeza: Kesan Kemanusiaan daripada krisis ekonomi di Eropah”.

68 halaman laporan Red Cross, yang diterbitkan Khamis, menambah: “Kami kini melihat keadaan terdesak yang tenang merebak di kalangan orang Eropah, menyebabkan kemurungan, perletakan jawatan dan kehilangan harapan untuk masa depan mereka.”

5 trend utama mencirikan kesan krisis ekonomi di seluruh Eropah yang dikenal pasti dalam dokumen ini: Miskin semakin miskin iaitu ‘Miskin baru’ terjerumus ke dalam kemiskinan, kesihatan yang semakin lemah; pendirian menguatkan kepada peningkatan penghijrahan dan peningkatan mendadak dalam pengangguran.

Kajian ini membimbangkan memberi amaran bahawa “kesan jangka panjang krisis ini masih belum permukaan,” walaupun sudah sangat serius, tanda-tanda yang boleh dilihat kegawatan ekonomi yang mendalam dalam halaman-halamannya.

Penyelidikan Palang Merah termasuk data dan kesimpulan yang diambil dari pelbagai negara-negara Eropah, dari Belgium, Georgia, Greece dan Itali ke Sweden, carta statistik daripada 28 negara-negara EU serta 14 di Balkan, Eropah Timur dan Asia Tengah.

EU economic crisis causing massive rise in poverty – Red Cross

Europe is facing a catastrophic economic and social decline, according to a new Red Cross report. The charity concludes that austerity measures taken during Europe’s economic downturn have further contributed to snowballing poverty and unemployment.

“Whilst other continents successfully reduce poverty, Europe adds to it,” says the report, entitled “Think differently: Humanitarian impacts of the economic crisis in Europe.”

The 68 page Red Cross report, published Thursday, adds: “We now see a quiet desperation spreading among Europeans, resulting in depression, resignation and loss of hope for their future.”

Five major trends characterizing the impact of the economic crisis across Europe are identified in the document: the poor getting poorer; the ‘new poor’ spiraling into poverty; weakening health; a toughening stance on increasing migration; and a steep rise in unemployment.

The study ominously warns that “the long term consequences of this crisis have yet to surface,” despite already very serious, visible symptoms of economic downturn being detailed throughout its pages.

The Red Cross’s research includes data and conclusions collected from a wide range of European countries, from Belgium, Georgia, Greece and Italy to Sweden, charting statistics from the 28 countries of the EU plus 14 in the Balkans, Eastern Europe and central Asia.

Seorang duduk bersebelahan merpati selepas dia mendapat makanan yang didermakan oleh gereja Yunani di tengah-tengah Athens (A man sits next to pigeons after he received food donated by the Greek church in central Athens (AFP Photo/Messinis – think IN pictures @1WORLDCommunity)

“Walaupun kadar kemiskinan telah meningkat, perkhidmatan sosial telah dikurangkan,” kata Itali Nota Palang Merah dalam laporannya. “Perkhidmatan awam tidak boleh bertindak balas kepada keperluan yang semakin berkembang,” kata laporan itu memetik Marco Tozzi, seorang sukarelawan Palang Merah sebagai berkata. “Kemiskinan semakin meningkat di Perancis, Romania, Sepanyol, Sweden dan banyak negara-negara lain seperti yang dilaporkan oleh Kebangsaan Palang Merah dan Bulan Sabit Merah melalui latihan pemetaan IFRC ini.”

Antara trend yang lebih umum, seperti peningkatan dalam kemiskinan, pengangguran dan pengurangan dalam perkhidmatan sosial, beberapa kesan sosial menengah juga dikenal pasti. Kanak-kanak yang dipelihara telah didapati akan bergerak kembali dengan ibu bapa mereka di Greece dan Sepanyol, dan generasi yang hidup di bawah satu bumbung dengan hanya satu sumber pendapatan untuk membayar untuk penjagaan rumah tangga ini.

Walau bagaimanapun, pada masa yang sama terdapat jurang ketidaksamaan meluaskan. “Bukan sahaja lebih ramai orang yang jatuh ke dalam kemiskinan, tetapi orang miskin semakin miskin, dan rasa adalah bahawa jurang antara kaya dan miskin semakin bertambah,” menurut laporan itu menyatakan, sambil menambah bahawa mereka yang mengalami yang paling banyak di Eropah adalah orang-orang yang dikenal pasti sebagai sudah ‘badly off’.

Di Romania, “orang-orang yang paling terjejas adalah mereka yang sudah miskin: bersara, orang kurang upaya, orang-orang yang tinggal di kebajikan sosial,” sementara Palang Merah Perancis meluahkan kebimbangan bahawa “75% peratus daripada orang [di Perancis] meminta makanan menjelaskan berbuat demikian kerana jika tidak, mereka tidak mampu untuk membayar sewa mereka.” Palang Merah Romanian juga menyatakan penurunan gaji purata negara sebanyak 24% peratus, diiringi oleh peningkatan dalam kos sara hidup kira-kira 30% peratus dari 2008 hingga 2012.

“While poverty has increased, social services have been reduced,” the Italian Red Cross notes in its report. “Public services simply cannot respond to the ever-growing needs,” the report cites Marco Tozzi, a Red Cross volunteer, as saying. “Poverty is on the increase in France, Romania, Spain, Sweden and many other countries as reported by National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies through the IFRC’s mapping exercise.”

Among more general trends, such as increases in poverty, unemployment and reductions in social services, some secondary social consequences are also identified. Grown-up children have been found to be moving back in with their parents in Greece and Spain, and generations are living under a single roof with just one income-earner to pay for the household’s upkeep.

However, there is simultaneously a broadening inequality gap. “Not only are more people falling into poverty, but the poor are getting poorer, and the sense is that the gaps between the wealthy and the poor are growing,” the report states, adding that those suffering the most in Europe were those identified as already badly off.

In Romania, “the most affected people are those who are already poor: the retired, the disabled, people living on social welfare," while the French Red Cross expresses concern that “75 per cent of people [in France] asking for food explain doing so because otherwise they could not afford to pay their rent.” The Romanian Red Cross also noted a fall in the country’s average salary by 24 percent, accompanied by an increase in living costs of about 30 percent from 2008 to 2012.

Spain, Madrid (AFP Photo/Pedro Armestre – think IN pictures @1WORLDCommunity)

Walaupun trend ini boleh dijangka di negara-negara yang dilanda krisis seperti Sepanyol dan Greece, yang kedua-duanya dilihat gelombang bantahan sengit, pakuan angka pengangguran dan meningkatkan pergantungan kepada amal, bimbang statistik menggambarkan keadaan di negara-negara seperti Jerman juga yang dikenal pasti.

Kelas menengah Jerman kontrak pada kelajuan yang pesat, nota laporan itu, memetik angka daripada kajian Yayasan Bertelsmann; pada tahun 1997, kira-kira 65% peratus daripada Jerman telah dikenal pasti sebagai kelas pertengahan, manakala jumlah ini turun kepada 58% peratus pada tahun 2012, yang bermaksud bahawa beberapa 5.5 juta Jerman telah kehilangan “status kelas,” mereka mengikut kajian. Walau bagaimanapun, setengah juta melangkah "Naik" kelas, yang dikenal pasti sebagai golongan berpendapatan tinggi.

Pengangguran besar-besaran dan kemiskinan di seluruh Eropah mendalam telah meningkat keperluan orang meminta bantuan daripada Palang Merah di seluruh benua, kerana mereka telah datang semakin bergantung kepada amal. “Jumlah orang bergantung kepada pengagihan makanan Palang Merah di 22 buah negara yang dikaji telah meningkat sebanyak 75% peratus antara 2009 dan 2012,” kata laporan itu.

Kesan psikologi: kadar bunuh diri Greece sehingga 40% peratus

Walaupun ketidakupayaan untuk mendapatkan komoditi atau tenaga yang mencukupi menyumbang kepada penurunan umum dalam kesihatan awam pada akaun pemotongan jangka panjang (dan dengan itu berharga lebih dalam jangka panjang) , tahap kesihatan mental penduduk umum juga lebih teruk lagi sebagai menyebabkan penderitaan psikologi.

Kebangsaan Palang Merah dan Bulan Sabit Merah melaporkan keperluan yang meningkat untuk sokongan psikososial kepada orang-orang yang mengalami kemurungan dan lain-lain masalah kesihatan mental, menurut laporan itu. Satu contoh utama penderitaan yang berterusan mental yang dialami oleh mereka yang dibuang ke dalam kemiskinan telah jelas di Greece dalam tempoh 3 tahun yang lalu.

“Kadar bunuh diri di Greece telah berkembang secara drastik sebanyak 40% peratus antara Januari dan Mei 2011, berbanding tempoh yang sama pada tahun 2010, 50 tahun yang tinggi,” kata nota laporan itu.

Benua ini juga menyaksikan peningkatan dalam penghijrahan ekonomi, dipadankan dengan peningkatan selari dalam sentimen anti-migrasi di negara-negara tuan rumah. “Penghijrahan Buruh telah tindak balas utama kepada cabaran sosial, demografi dan ekonomi, dan [a] strategi survival bagi kebanyakan keluarga [itu] di Asia Tengah dan rantau Selatan Caucasus,” laporan itu mendapatinya.

While these trends may be expected in crisis-stricken countries such as Spain and Greece, which have both seen waves of intense protests, spiking unemployment figures and increasing reliance on charity, worrying statistics illustrating the situation in countries such as Germany are also identified.

The German middle class is contracting at a rapid speed, the report notes, citing figures from a Bertelsmann Foundation study; in 1997, some 65 percent of Germans were identified as middle class, while this number drops to 58 percent in 2012, meaning that some 5.5 million Germans have lost their “class status,” according to the study. However, half a million stepped “up” a class, being identified as high-income earners.

Mass unemployment and deepening poverty across Europe have increased the needs of people seeking help from the Red Cross across the continent, as they have increasingly come to rely on charity. “The amount of people depending on Red Cross food distributions in 22 of the surveyed countries has increased by 75 percent between 2009 and 2012,” the report says.

Psychological impact: Greek suicide rate up 40 percent

While the inability to obtain sufficient commodities or energy contributes to the general decline in public health on account of long-term cuts (and thereby costing more in the long-term), the level of mental health of the general population is also worse as a result of psychological suffering.

National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies report an increased need for psychosocial support to people suffering from depression and other mental health problems, according to the report. A prime example of the ongoing mental anguish suffered by those thrown into poverty has been apparent in Greece over the past three years.

“Suicide rates in Greece have grown drastically by as much as 40 percent between January and May 2011, compared to the same period in 2010, a 50-year high,” the report notes.

The continent is also witnessing an increase in economic migration, matched by a parallel increase in anti-migration sentiment in host countries. “Labor migration has been the major response to social, demographic and economic challenges, and [a] survival strategy for the majority of families in [the] Central Asia and Southern Caucasus region,” the report finds.

Seorang lelaki yang tidak berumah bercakap kepada pejalan kaki di daerah ke-14 Paris (A homeless man talks to a pedestrian in the 14th district of Paris (AFP Photo/Miguel Medina – think IN pictures @1WORLDCommunity)

Kira-kira 10% peratus daripada keseluruhan penduduk Rusia dikenalpasti sebagai pendatang dari Asia Tengah dan Caucasus Selatan - antara 12 dan 14 juta orang. Sweden juga telah melihat sebilangan besar pendatang yang ingin mengambil tempat tinggal di dalam sempadannya, dengan beberapa 35,000 pendatang tanpa izin dianggap hidup di negara itu, di samping bilangan yang tinggi orang yang memasuki negara itu dari dalam EU mencari pekerjaan.

“Malangnya, ramai daripada mereka akhirnya tinggal di jalanan dan tanpa cara untuk menyokong diri mereka sendiri,” kata nota laporan. Ia juga menggariskan bagaimana pendirian orang ramai mengenai pendatang telah ‘toughened’ agaknya. Austria negeri Palang Merah bahawa: “Kerajaan, bersama-sama dengan kerajaan-kerajaan dan agensi-agensi EU menyokong kuat EU usaha kecenderungan untuk keadaan luar sistem perlindungan EU dan dengan itu mereka cuba untuk menjaga pendatang (di antara mereka pemohon potensi suaka) di luar wilayah EU. “Di samping Sweden, Norway juga menyatakan bahawa ia telah mengalami “peningkatan mendadak dalam bilangan pendatang buruh Eropah.”

Walaupun peningkatan dalam penghijrahan buruh berasaskan, pengangguran masih menjadi isu yang serius, dengan besar-besaran 120 juta orang Eropah yang tinggal, atau berisiko, kemiskinan secara total, manakala kadar pengangguran belia di 1/4 daripada negara-negara bermula dari 33% kepada lebih tinggi daripada 60%.

“Pada suku ketiga 2012, terdapat 11 juta penganggur jangka panjang sahaja EU. Ini adalah 1.3 juta lebih daripada tahun sebelumnya dan 5.2 juta lebih daripada pada tahun 2008,” kata laporan itu. Serta berpotensi menyumbang kepada kemerosotan kesihatan mental, kesan jangka panjang kadar pengangguran semakin meningkat juga menunjukkan pengaruh ke atas peningkatan pergolakan sosial.

“Graf dari [Pertubuhan Buruh Antarabangsa] menunjukkan bahawa risiko [dari] pergolakan sosial telah meningkat 12% peratus di Eropah dari 2011-2012,” laporan itu membuat kesimpulan.

Walaupun mengetengahkan nasib “baru miskin” akibat daripada langkah-langkah penjimatan, Palang Merah juga menekankan bagaimana tahap pekerjaan tidak semestinya menunjukkan apa-apa taraf hidup dalam diri mereka. Institusi memetik 2011 angka Eurostat, mencatatkan bahawa 8.9% peratus daripada orang-orang dengan pekerjaan di EU masih hidup di bawah garis kemiskinan.

Around 10 percent of Russia’s entire population is identified as migrants from Central Asia and the South Caucasus – between 12 and 14 million people. Sweden has also seen a high number of migrants seeking to take up residency inside its borders, with some 35,000 undocumented migrants thought to be living in the country, alongside the high number of people entering the country from within the EU looking for work.

“Unfortunately, many of them end up living on the streets and without means to support themselves,” the report notes. It further underlines how that the public stance on migrants has ‘toughened’ somewhat. The Austrian Red Cross states that: “The government, together with EU governments and EU agencies is strongly supporting the tendency to externalize the EU asylum system and thereby they are trying to keep migrants (among them potential asylum seekers) outside the EU territory.” Alongside Sweden, Norway also notes that it has experienced a “steep increase in the number of European labor migrants.”

Despite the increase in labor-based migration, unemployment remains a serious issue, with a massive 120 million Europeans living in, or at risk of, poverty in total, while youth unemployment in one-quarter of the countries ranges from 33% to higher than 60%.

“As of the third quarter of 2012, there were 11 million long-term unemployed in the EU alone. This is 1.3 million more than the year before and 5.2 million more than in 2008,” the report says. As well as potentially contributing to declining mental health, the long term effects of increasing unemployment levels also indicate an influence on increased social unrest.

“The graph from [the International Labor Organization] shows that the risk [of] social unrest has increased 12 percent in Europe from 2011–2012,” the report concludes.

While highlighting the plight of the “new poor” resulting from austerity measures, the Red Cross also underscores how employment levels may not always be indicative of any standard of living in themselves. The institution cites a 2011 Eurostat figure, noting that 8.9 percent of people with jobs in the EU still lived below the poverty line.